


Take a Bow

by ZaharaDessert



Series: Simply Players On't [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:46:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26200606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZaharaDessert/pseuds/ZaharaDessert
Summary: Jaimi-Antoinette Louise Fudge is the girlfriend of one Draco Malfoy. While a lot of things have been going very well she finds herself sitting alone in a restaurant waiting for him and not for the first time. She decides to stop waiting for him to show up, and goes to demand an answer.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Simply Players On't [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902754
Kudos: 26





	Take a Bow

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted as a Songfic before we all realised those were an infringement of copyright way back before they were banned on HPFF. So I've done a little rewriting, because while I'm proud of the concept and the original inspiration (Take a Bow by Rihanna) I know I'm better now than I was then, and I know I was better when I wrote the sequel... So, here's the rewrite, and I hope it still rings true.

Jaimi looked at her watch for what felt like the fiftieth time since she arrived half an hour ago, the movement felt weary and repetitive. She hated the way her forehead set in a frown and the breath rushed out of her mouth in a dejected sigh when she saw the time. 

He was late, again. 

She was fed up with it, really fed up. She looked towards the door once more, taking in the bar in case he was waiting for her there and they had missed each other, last thing she wanted to do was make a fuss over nothing. 

He wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t. 

With a sigh she called the waiter over, closed out the tab and thanked him for his patience, he’d been extremely kind about the whole thing, no judgement in his eyes, no pity. She didn’t want pity and he seemed to understand that. She wasn’t some lovesick ‘rejectee’, she was better than this. What the waiter did give her was a look that said ‘they don’t deserve you’ as he helped her back into her jacket. The dragonhide was well worn and comforting, and with a deep breath she headed out into the night. 

She was damn well going to find out where he was. She was fed up with men who said one thing and did another like she was just going to take that kind of disrespect and not say anything. They clearly didn’t realise who they were dealing with, because being lied to was not something she tolerated. 

Not now, not ever. 

Once she’d apparated across London, heels clicking as she marched purposefully along the pavement. There was no way he’d still be at work at this hour, of that she was fairly certain, despite what he said, he’d never stayed late at the office for anything unless he absolutely had to. He was an idiot if he thought she was too trusting to turn up here if he was late. Her keys jangled as she retrieved them from the side pocket of her bag and pushed the key into the lock. There was a soft click as she turned it and the catch slid out of its position, the weight of the door causing it to shift. Pushing with the other hand as she pulled out her key Jaimi walked forward, stepping into the high-ceilinged lobby of the old building.

Like many buildings of that era, it was a few stories tall, and Draco lived on the third, and top floor. He claimed it was for the roof terrace he had exclusive access to. At least he hadn’t had to carry his furniture upstairs. Sometimes magic definitely did have its perks.

She took a deep breath and looked up the void in the middle of the staircase. Clenching her teeth, she started up the first flight. Merlin she hated these stairs. 

They gave her time to think though, time to assess and evaluate the situation, to make some attempt at deciding what she wanted to say to him when she finally stood in front of him and had his undivided attention for her wrath. 

Anna, who lived on the floor below with her husband and chihuahua came out of her flat and smiled at her before seeing Jaimi's face, at which point the slightly older woman frowned.

"I thought he was taking you out tonight." Her voice showed concern, and Jaimi had to admit that she was going to miss catching up with the blonde on her way to and from Draco’s flat. 

"There's been a change of plans." Jaimi said before swinging herself round the corner onto the next flight of stairs.

Because he needed to have one hell of an excuse for being late… to the point where, as she made it to the final landing she slipped the key off the keyring, slipping the latter back into her bag and the former into the pocket of her dragonhide jacket. 

She didn’t rush, because she didn’t want to be breathless or red in the face for this. She wanted to look like dynamite, and as she stood there, catching her breath, she vowed she would never date a guy who lived in a third floor flat again, ever. 

Deciding not to let herself in as she would normally; this wasn't exactly a normal situation after all, she approached the door. She’d never turned up without an explicit invitation before. She hooked a finger underneath the knocker and flicked it away from the door, three times. 

About a minute later the door opened and there he stood, leaning against the edge of the doorway trying to look casual, in blue jeans and a black shirt. He smiled at her, but didn't invite her in. Jaimi looked him up and down appraisingly. He didn’t even have socks on. 

When she met his gaze his eyes were that same shade of gray, but she felt like she was looking into a different pair of eyes. His blonde hair was perfect, too perfect even for him.

"Where were you?" she asked, going for concerned rather than accusatory.

"I was on my way, I got held up at work," he said, the lie slipping off his tongue with barely a change to his expression. 

Jaimi pursed her lips, and took a breath.

"Just like last time, when I waited an hour?” she asked. She hadn’t waited as long this time because clearly he wasn’t going to show just like the last. [b]”Or the time before that, when I sat through the whole film? Fuck Draco, if you didn’t want to see it why didn’t you say something, you talk about experiencing things you didn’t get a chance to as a kid and then…"

"Do you want a drink?" he asked, interrupting her and glancing at the stairs, clearly not wanting this argument to happen at his door. 

"Why not," she replied with a shrug.

He finally stepped away from the door to let her in, and Jaimi walked past him into the sitting room. She looked around; the small kitchenette was clean as it always was. The few ornaments he owned were sitting in their exact places on his bookshelves. Nothing was out of place, just like normal, the cushions were perfectly placed, the coffee table was exactly one and a half feet from the sofa. Just like it always was when she came over. 

But he hadn't been expecting her, why would he have tidied up as though she was coming over if he hadn't been expecting her?

He walked over to the drinks cabinet and pulled out two glasses, and two bottles. 

"Your usual?"

"You have to ask?" She said, looking over at him almost incredulously. He looked down at the bottle and an expression crossed his face that she wasn’t used to, like he was kicking himself for a mistake. Draco Malfoy never admitted to making mistakes, it wasn’t in his nature. He left mistakes in the dust and moved on. "I'll have just the pumpkin juice." He looked up at her with a frown and she simply raised an eyebrow in return. "I've got to be up early in the morning," she had work, which he would know if he’d thought about it for a moment. Besides, she’d have two glasses of wine while waiting in the restaurant. 

He poured the drinks and carried them over. Jaimi took hers, careful not to touch his hand, for fear of losing all determination. She took a large swig, glad of her decision; she needed a clear head if she was going to get to the bottom of this. 

"Where were you?" she repeated, knowing that pressing him with the same question would drive a more honest answer from him or the exact same lie. Either would prove something, she wasn’t quite sure what yet, but there was something going on.

He looked up from his seat on the sofa, a frown crossing his smooth brow. "What?" She raised her eyebrow again; she knew he'd heard, he was just avoiding the answer. "I told you, I was held up at work."

The same damn lie.

"That's all it ever is with you, work, work, work,” she said, exasperated. “You're always late, and it's always the same excuse. I've never complained before, but you're doing it more often, and last week you didn't turn up at all." Jaimi hadn't sat down and she was glad of that as she looked down at him as he sat there drinking his Firewhiskey neat. She took another swig, for something to do, as she waited for an answer that she doubted would ever come.

He put his glass down on the table, and stood up, moving towards her. He took her glass and put it next to his. She was watching the liquid swirling in the glasses but looked up at him as he took her hands in his.

"Jaimi, it's not my fault if I get held up at work. I love you." Those last three words at least held a good attempt at emphatic. They may even have been honest. She couldn’t tell any more. 

"You can tell them you have a date you know, plenty of other people do. Believe it or not even the minister has time off. And if I’m completely honest it should be me who's held up at work, I'm the one who works in a hospital for Merlin’s sake!" she told him, pulling her hand out of his.

"Jaimi..." he placed his hand on her arm, and she glared at him.

"Don't 'Jaimi' me." she cried stepping away from him, turning towards the kitchen. 

She stopped in her tracks, staring. 

There were two mugs sitting by the sink, having been washed up. One was Draco's mug, the other was not the one she used, but another that Draco used for guests. She moved closer and saw a faint smudge of dark pink. 

Lipstick. 

Jaimi never wore lipstick. 

She turned suddenly, her hair whipping out behind her and she glared at him. 

"Where is she?" her voice was as cold as the fury that burned in her eyes was hot. 

"Who?" he asked perplexed. Jaimi pointed at the mug as a response. "My mother was over earlier."

Jaimi laughed, incredulous disbelief that he would think her so stupid rolling from her lips in a peal of mirth that she could only attribute to the utterly ridiculous statement. 

"Your mother never visits you; you go to see her because she agrees with me that living on the third floor and subjecting your guests to those stairs for access to a roof terrace is uncommonly rude. Also she doesn't wear dark pink lipstick, she wears pale pink, always,” she told him with complete and utter certainty. It was one of the things she and Narcissa had bonded over, the stairs. 

"Jaimi I..."

"Stop digging, Draco," She told him firmly as she stalked over to the bathroom, she didn’t want to hear any more excuses or lies she wanted answers. 

Jaimi twisted the handle and pushed the door open, it was empty. She walked three paces to the right and opened the bedroom door. 

There she was, a petite blonde with blue eyes, and dark pink lipstick, sitting on the bed, in Draco's shirt, reading one of his books.

For a long moment, Jaimi stared at the woman on the bed, who seemed completely unashamed by the state she’d been found in. Unconcerned by the woman who was glaring at her like she wanted to rip every single perfect strand of blonde hair from her head. Jaimi was, in fact, very close to cursing her hair off when she heard Draco shift behind her, clearly worried that something of that ilk might happen and deciding that he didn’t want to clear up the mess. 

So instead, Jaimi rounded on him.

"You got held up at work? My arse did you!" she shouted finally letting the fury out in volume as well as tone. He didn’t say anything. In that moment it was probably for the best. 

"How long Draco?" 

He looked at the floor, still not saying anything which only made her more determined to find out. 

"How long?" she pressed. 

He glanced through his bedroom door at the blonde on his bed and then looked at Jaimi. He had the sense to look a little sheepish when he finally spoke.

"With her, a month."

"So she's not the only one?" Draco shook his head "What's your excuse? Am I not good enough for you?"

“No, I…”

“Am I not good enough in bed? If not then why don’t you just date her instead? In fact why don’t you just date all of them at the same time? They clearly don’t mind how many people you’re sleeping with while you’re dating them,” she spat. She knew it wasn’t necessarily their fault, he’d chosen to cheat on her, but they had to have known. She had a toothbrush here for Merlin’s sake. 

Oh, no. They hadn’t used her toothbrush had they? 

She wanted to vomit. 

“Because she’s not…” he started, and Jaimi saw red.

“Not respectable enough? How stupid do you think I am? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? Either that or, let me guess, you thought I’d be happy to be your public date, go to all your functions with you always your plus one, the respectable girlfriend you need to convince people you really did turn over a new leaf. But as soon as I get home, you’re already thinking about which one of them you’re going to screw!” 

By the end of her tirade, Jaimi was shouting in his face, and for the first time in his life Draco couldn’t find it in himself to sneer at the abuse that was being thrown at him. His eyes were fixed on the carpet at her feet, lost for words. Both had forgotten about the petite blonde sitting on the bed, who had obviously decided that it was best to keep quiet and let them get on with their breakup. Maybe she was hoping she could comfort him once Jaimi was gone. 

“I’m sorr…” Jaimi’s right hand smacked into the side of Draco’s face, and the sound seemed to echo through the apartment before she’d even made the conscious decision to move her arm. 

For a moment, no one moved, no one breathed. 

You could cut the tension with a knife. 

“No you’re not.” She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. But the truth didn’t need to be loud.

“Yes I am Jaimi I…”

“You’re only sorry you got caught,” she told him, her voice growing louder again. “Don’t try to deny it, you would have carried on until I found out, whether I’d found out a month ago or a year from now.”

“No,” his voice was gentle as moved closer to her, taking her hands in his. Speaking softly, seductively, the way he knew made her crumble. “Only you could ever make me happy, only you turn my insides to fire.” He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, he leaned in. the feel of his breath on her face was intoxicating; she wanted him. She wanted to hold him and pretend everything was O.k. “You mean everything to me,”

But she couldn’t, because it wasn’t. She pushed him away laughing in his face.

“No, clearly I don’t,” She gestured to the blonde still sitting on Draco’s bed. “I loved you, Draco. But clearly that’s not enough for you and I can’t, I won’t give you any more of me,” she was walking backwards towards the door, instinctual familiarity guided her round the sofa and halfway towards the door. 

Jaimi reached into her jacket pocket, and something silver glinted in the harsh light of the apartment.

“Jaimi please…” there was a chinking sound as the key that she had removed from her ring earlier fell to the hardwood floor, Draco’s eyes landed on it as it lay on the floor between them, a barrier, uncrossable and unremovable.

“No, it’s over” she said firmly, she was done. “Find someone else to help you pretend you’re perfect, because I won’t do it anymore.” She turned and strode the remaining couple of feet towards the door. She pulled it open, and didn’t even look back before stepping through it, head held high and slamming it behind her.

Anna watched her pass with a concerned expression on her face, but Jaimi kept going with her head held high, making it out onto the street and halfway towards the alley she normally apparated to and from before the prickling in her eyes and the heat of her tears spilled down her cheeks. 

Not trusting herself to apparate she walked until her feet ached. She sat down on the edge of the fountain in the square she’d found herself in. Several long, deep breaths later her tears had dried up. A few more and although the hurt and anger were still burning strong, but she felt in control of them. 

“It’s over now…” she whispered as she stood up, she needed to get home, because there were more important things in life than pathetic cheating assholes who only cared when they got caught. She wasn’t interested in drama like that, she had enough drama at work. So as far as she was concerned this was the curtain call of her relationship with Draco. 

_Go on and take a bow…_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, Kudos and Comments are always appreciated. 
> 
> I will be posting the sequel that I wrote to this at some point, but I'm gonna self-beta the hell out of that before I post it. 
> 
> Interesting fact, I added about 1400 words to this one shot in the rewriting. So... yeah. Hopefully I won't feel the need to adjust that much for the sequel, which is, incidentally a multi-chapter! I'm not hugely into writing those so, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think!


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